Essential John Mayer: 10 best songs

There is something a bit ... polarizing about John Mayer. Sure, he’s a pretty-boy pop performer/playboy with a string of famous lady friends, including Jessica Simpson, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. But at the same time, Mayer is a good singer, songwriter, and a very talented guitarist, sharing stages and recording studios with the likes of B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and jazz guitarist John Scofield. One can’t be a poseur and trade solos with those heavyweights. Here’s a list of his 10 best songs.

10. "Queen of California"

Is there another state in our Union that symbolizes The Good Life (and its pitfalls) more than California? Anyway, Mayer takes us on a state tour that’ll make you forget the whiny angst-fest of the Eagles’ “Hotel California,” paying tribute to the influence of the Grateful Dead and Neil Young along the way. Mayer has clearly grown as a singer, sounding more like a grown-up fellow than a young guy trying to sound grown-up.

9. "Vultures"

An elegant mid-tempo number that sounds like a “typical” Mayer tune until the chorus, where he sings the 1960s-style R&B chorus in a pinched, achingly soulful falsetto and then plays a simmering King-flavored electric solo (the Kings being B.B. and Albert, naturally).

8. "Neon"

Mayer makes that acoustic six-string rock…but not in the way you might think. He plays in a rhythmic manner, letting those wee finger-slaps be the “percussion” while he picks in near-virtuoso fashion recalling acoustic princes of pickers, those six-string sultans Leo Kottke and Mark Knopfler. Vocally, he recalls the unfussy fervor of Richie Havens and Bill Withers.

7. "Clarity"

I think this is what’s known as “modern pop.” There are what sound like handclaps, a gauzy, breezy chorus with a dark undercurrent and Herb Alpert-like brass over a deceptively casual, undulating beat. Mayer goes for the cosmopolitan Sade sound without losing himself.

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6. "I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)"

Mayer tries something a little different here, going for a subtly slinky groove that evokes but does not copy the down-tempo groove songs of Talking Heads, Prince and the right Reverend Al Green... and he gets it, yes he does. But don’t worry, there is a slow-burning guitar solo.

5. "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room"

This shows Mayer’s strengths as a songwriter and arranger. Like rhythm & blues evolved from blues styles, Mayer keeps the basic pop song structure (in lesser hands, this could be a song by Toto or Chris Rea) but he infuses it with impassioned blues licks and a rootsy/restless vocal that underplays the song’s drama instead of overplaying it.

4. "Gravity"

Mayer laments that “gravity wants to bring me down” — a pun, perhaps? While the lyrics aren’t for the ages, the music here is: Mayer goes for the languid rainy-night ambience of songs such as “Rainy Night in Georgia” and then that sanctified gospel-laced chorus comes out of nowhere to try to push the clouds away.

3. "Wildfire"

No, this isn’t the Michael Murphy soft-rock classic, but it’d be nice if this were a big hit, too. Mayer’s vocal has the worn-pair-of-jeans feel of Eric Clapton and Vince Gill, the intro has echoes of the African guitar juju of King Sunny Ade, and his solocaptures that N’awlins strut-on-Saturday-night feel as surely as a Dr. John piano solo or anything by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Where some gee-tar types use the solo spotlight to burn or soar, Mayer’s bit floats.

2. "Paper Doll"

Nearly everyone does a this-one’s-for-you song, and this is one. What makes it truly stand out is Mayer’s soothing, musing delivery and truly sparkling guitar licks, and while it could get airplay on daytime workplace radio, Mayer maintains those folk and blues undertones in a delicate fashion.

1. "Something Like Olivia"

With just voice and guitar, Mayer proves sometimes that’s all you need to make a point: Simple, unadorned, sharp but not gosh-look-at-me picking, and a likably laconic-but-heartfelt vocal. Will it go down it history like Dylan or Guthrie? Who knows. But directness like this is hard to fake.

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